Method for producing strain tolerant multifilamentary oxide superconducting wire

A method of producing a strain tolerant multifilamentary wire capable of carrying superconducting currents comprising the steps of:

• providing a plurality of amorphous filaments of a high Tc material capable of conducting superconducting currents when in the crystalline state, the length of the filaments being at least several orders of magnitude greater than the filament diameter;
• coating the filaments with a thin layer of normal conductive metal on the exterior surfaces of the filaments;
• orienting the coated filaments such that the length of the filaments is generally along an elongate axis of the microfilamentary wire, the step of orienting producing substantial filament-to-filament overlap;
• compacting the oriented coated filaments to form an elongate composite in which the overlapped coated filaments are pressed into contact with each other;
• and
• heat treating the composite to crystallize the amorphous filaments while leaving a normal metal interface between the crystallized filaments, the step of heat treating serving to preserve the normal metal coating on the filaments to form said interface to produce the multifilamentary wire capable of carrying superconducting currents in which the crystallized superconducting filaments are supported in a normal metal matrix.